Fisker Karma hybrid showcased in Monaco

Luxury manufacturer Fisker Automotive recently debuted the first production line model of its plug-in hybrid vehicle, called the Karma, at this year’s Formula One Monaco Grand Prix.

The car, driven by Monaco’s Prince Albert II, completed a couple of laps around the historic track before the official qualifying race began.

As odd as it many seem, we’ve covered Prince Albert II more than once here at EarthTechling; first for chairing an international committee called the EV20 that seeks to increase electric vehicles by 1 million units by the year 2015, and most recently for choosing a modded Lexus hybrid as his royal wedding vehicle.

According to Henrik Fisker, co-founder of the automotive company, Prince Albert II was the inspiration for the American-designed Karma, which we recently covered, after he and Fisker met at 2006 Top Marques supercar convention.

The Karma is equipped with two, rear-mounted 201.5 horsepower, 150 kilowatt electric motors, that are powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that gives the car a range of 50 miles.

But the Karma stores a separate gasoline engine as well, and when activated, generates enough electricity to power both electric motors at once, giving the car enough boost to achieve a top speed of 125 miles per hour.

Currently, the vehicles are being made in Finland, and should be delivered to all pre-order customers, who will pay roughly $100,000 for their new car, before the end of the year.